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On October 16, 2013, fifteen leaders of Oregon’s religious communities gathered at First United Methodist Church in Portland to voice their opposition to Oregon's death penalty and present their reasons for advocating its abolition. The convocation and dinner was sponsored by Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (OADP) and Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO).

A majority of Americans -- 60 percent -- still favor putting convicted murderers to death. In the past 20 years, the level of support has dropped gradually, from a high of 80 percent in 1994, and 69 percent as recently as 2007.

West of Memphis is an examination of a failure of justice. This documentary film tells the hitherto unknown story behind an extraordinary and desperate fight to bring the truth to light. Told and made by those who lived it, the filmmakers' unprecedented access to the inner workings of the defense, allows the film to show the investigation, research and appeals process in a way that has never been seen before.

In the Executioner's Shadow

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Common Questions

Capital punishment is legal in the U.S. state of Oregon. The first execution under the territorial government was in 1851. Capital punishment was made explicitly legal by statute in 1864, and executions have been carried out exclusively at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem since 1904. The death penalty was outlawed between 1914 and 1920, again between 1964 and 1978, and then again between a 1981 Oregon Supreme Court ruling and a 1984 ballot measure. Since 1904, about 60 individuals have been executed in Oregon. Aggravated murder is the only crime subject to the penalty of death under Oregon law.